Contemporary classical double bass players are performers who play the

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

, the largest and lowest-pitched bowed

string instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the ...

. They perform

European art music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" als ...

ranging from

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

suites and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

-era Classical pieces to

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

and avant-garde works in a variety of settings, ranging from huge

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

s to small chamber groups, or as soloists. Historical double bassists such as

Domenico Dragonetti Domenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti (7 April 1763 – 16 April 1846) was an Italian double bass virtuoso and composer with a 3 string double bass. He stayed for thirty years in his hometown of Venice, Italy and worked at the Opera Buffa, at the Chap ...

(1763–1846) and

Giovanni Bottesini Giovanni Bottesini (22 December 1821 – 7 July 1889) was an Italian Romantic composer, conductor, and a double bass virtuoso. Biography Born in Crema, Lombardy, he was taught the rudiments of music by his father, an accomplished clarinetist ...

(1821–1889) established a tradition for playing the instrument that was carried on in the 20th and 21st century with a number of double bass players. Gary karr

Some of the most influential contemporary classical double bass players are known as much for their contributions to pedagogy as for their performing skills, such as US bassist Oscar Zimmerman (1910–1987), known for his teaching at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...

and, for 44 summers at the Interlochen Music Camp in Michigan and French-Syrian bassist

François Rabbath François Rabbath (born 1931 in Aleppo, Syria) is a contemporary French double-bass virtuoso, soloist, and composer. Career He was born into a Syrian family of musicians but his only instruction came from a book written by a Parisian bassist Edo ...

(born 1931), who developed a new bass method which divided the entire fingerboard into six positions. Bassists noted for their virtuoso solo skills include US player

Gary Karr Gary Michael Karr (born November 20, 1941 in Los Angeles) is an American classical double bass virtuoso and teacher; he is considered one of the best bassists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Biography Although he comes from several generations ...

(born 1941) and Finnish bassist-composer Teppo Hauta-Aho (1941–2021). This is a list of notable professional classical double bass players, including orchestral performers, soloists, chamber musicians, and teachers.

Historical

Johannes Matthias Sperger Johannes Matthias Sperger, also often Johann, (Czech: Jan Matyáš Sperger; 23 March 1750 – 13 May 1812) was an Austrian double bassist and composer. Sperger was born in Feldsberg,At the time of his birth, Feldsberg was part of Lower Austria ...

(1750–1812) composer *

(1763–1846) composer, conductor *

(1821–1889) composer, conductor *

Franz Simandl Franz Simandl (August 1, 1840 – December 15, 1912) was a Czech double-bassist and pedagogue most remembered for his book ''New Method for the Double Bass,'' known as the "Simandl book", which is to this day used as a standard study of doubl ...

(1840–1912) composer * Edouard Nanny (1872–1943) composer *

Serge Koussevitzky Sergei Alexandrovich KoussevitzkyKoussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling "Serge", using it in his signature. (SeThe Koussevit ...

(1874–1951) composer, conductor

North America

Edwin Barker Edwin Barker is an American double bass player who graduated from the New England Conservatory. He is Principal Double Bass with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Associate Professor of Music at Boston University College of Fine Arts. Career ...

Jeff Bradetich Jeffrey David Bradetich (born 1957) is an Americans, American professor and performer of double bass. He currently teaches at the University of North Texas College of Music. Bradetich made his New York City debut at the Carnegie Recital Hall (now ...

* Bruce Bransby * Maximilian Dimoff *

Timothy Cobb Timothy Cobb (born March 28, 1964 in Albany, New York) is the American current principal double bassist with the New York Philharmonic. He previously taught at the Peabody Institute of Music, and joined the Manhattan School of Music faculty in 1 ...

* David Currie *

Mark Dresser Mark Dresser (born September 26, 1952) is an American double bass player and composer. Career Dresser was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. In the 1970s, he was a member of Black Music Infinity led by Stanley Crouch and performed w ...

Paul Ellison Paul Ellison (born October 17, 1941) is co-principal bass at the Grand Teton Festivals, and is Professor of Double Bass at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. He was also on the faculty of The Colburn School Conservatory of Music in Los A ...

* Diana Gannett *

John Geggie John Geggie is an Ottawa-based Canadian bassist (double bass) who performs jazz with several Ottawa-based groups and performers.Larry Gray Larry Gray is a Chicago musician known for his compositions and skill on the double bass and cello. His primary teachers were Joseph Guastafeste, longtime principal bassist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and cellist Karl Fruh.University of Il ...

Barry Green Barry Green is an American orchestral and solo double bass player and teacher. He was the principal bassist for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. A contemporary of people such as Gary Karr, he has developed and publicized his own method for double ...

* Mark Morton *

* Albert Laszlo *

Eugene Levinson Eugene Levinson is the former principal double bassist of the New York Philharmonic and teaches at the Juilliard School. Career According to the New Method for Double Bass (Carl Fischer edition), Levinson, who was born in Kiev, began to study mu ...

Salvatore Macchia Salvatore Macchia (born 1947) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. Macchia studied music composition with Yehudi Wyner and Hall Overton at the Yale School of Music, where he earned a DMA. In a career spanning 35 years, Macchi ...

* Jeremy McCoy *

Linda McKnight Linda McKnight is a double bassist particularly known for her teaching and solo performances. She is part of the music faculties at Manhattan School of Music, Columbia University, New York University, Columbia Teachers College, and Montclair State ...

Homer Mensch Homer Mensch (November 14, 1914 in Sussex, New Jersey – December 9, 2005 in Manhattan, New York) was a prominent classical bassist who was a former member of the Pittsburgh Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the New York Pops, and the NBC ...

Edgar Meyer Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is an American bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. He has won five Grammy Awards and been nominated seven times. Meyer is a member of the Telluride Bluegrass ...

Orin O'Brien Orin O'Brien (born 1935) is an American double bassist. She has been a member of the New York Philharmonic since joining in 1966 under the direction of Leonard Bernstein; she was the first woman to join the orchestra. She was on the faculty at the ...

Donald Palma Donald Palma is a prominent classical double bassist, conductor, bass instructor, and educator of ensemble performance. He is a native of New York City, and is a graduate of the Juilliard School. Palma studied with several noted bassists including ...

Scott Pingel Scott Pingel is an American bassist who is the principal bassist in the San Francisco Symphony. He had been the principal bassist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. In 2011 Pingel had the privilege of performing on the acclaimed Karr-Koussevit ...

Frank Proto Frank Proto (born July 18, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American composer and bassist. He was a double bass student of Fred Zimmermann and David Walter. He is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music in 1966 with a Master of Music. A self ...

Joel Quarrington Joel Quarrington (born January 15, 1955) is a Canadian double bass player, soloist and teacher. He is the former Principal Double Bass of the London Symphony Orchestra. Career He was born in Toronto, Ontario, and began playing the double bass at ...

Hal Robinson Harold Hall ("Hal") Robinson (born July 29, 1952Birth records
of < ...

Stuart Sankey Stuart Sankey (December 31, 1927 – May 1, 2000) was a pedagogue of the double bass. His students included Gary Karr, the first bass player of the modern era to make a career as a solo artist, and Edgar Meyer. He taught for nearly 50 years at the ...

Karl E. H. Seigfried Karl E. H. Seigfried is a German–American jazz, rock, and classical bassist, guitarist, composer, bandleader, writer and educator based in Chicago. Seigfried has performed and taught on the double bass "in virtually all musical styles – ...

Peter Seymour Peter Seymour (born November 17, 1977 in Dallas, Texas) is a double bass player and composer who resides in Brooklyn, New York. He is the co-creator, manager and bass player of Project Trio, an internationally touring chamber music ensemble. He has ...

* Dennis Trembly *

Bertram Turetzky Bertram Jay Turetzky (born February 14, 1933) is a contemporary American double bass (contrabass) soloist, composer, teacher, and author of ''The Contemporary Contrabass'' (1974, 1989), a book that looked at a number of new and interesting ways o ...

Frederick Zimmermann Frederick Zimmermann (May 18, 1906 – August 3, 1967) was an American double bassist and teacher. He played in the New York Philharmonic from 1930 to 1966 and taught at the Juilliard School, Mannes School of Music, Columbia University, Manhatt ...

Oscar G. Zimmerman Oscar G. Zimmerman (September 21, 1910 – April 2, 1987) was an American musician, teacher and double-bass player. Life and career Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1910, Oscar Zimmerman was the double bassist with the Rochester Phil ...

Trevor Dunn Trevor Roy Dunn (born January 30, 1968) is an American composer, bass guitarist, and double bassist. He came to prominence in the 1990s with the experimental band Mr. Bungle. While performing with Mr. Bungle, Dunn would dress similar to the ...

Monica Witni Monica Witni Cassin ( Bowden; July 5, 1918 – September 7, 1982) was an American composer, pianist, playwright, and double bass player. She published music under the names Monica Witni, Monica Witni Cassin, and under the pseudonym Mirriam Bowden H ...

Europe

* Leon Bosch *

Gavin Bryars Richard Gavin Bryars (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer and double bassist. He has worked in jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, avant-garde, and experimental music. Early life and career Born on 16 January 1943 in ...

Jurek Dybal Jurek may refer to: * Jurek (given name) * Jurek (surname) * a ''nom de guerre'' of Izrael Chaim Wilner (1917–1943), Jewish resistance fighter in World War II Poland * ''nom de guerre'' of Jerzy Zborowski Jerzy Eugeniusz Zborowski (''nom de ...

* Gerald Drucker *

Renaud Garcia-Fons Renaud Garcia-Fons (born December 24, 1962) is a highly accomplished French upright-bass player and composer. Career Garcia-Fons started his musical studies at an early age. At five years old he picked up playing the piano, switched to classic ...

Heinz Karl Gruber Heinz Karl "Nali" Gruber (born 3 January 1943), who styles himself HK Gruber professionally, is an Austrian composer, conductor, double bass player and singer. He is a leading figure of the so-called Third Viennese School. Career Gruber is said to ...

* Teppo Hauta-Aho * Rinat Ibragimov * Jorma Katrama *

Joëlle Léandre Joëlle Léandre (born 12 September 1951 in Aix-en-Provence, France) is a French double bassist, vocalist, and composer active in Contemporary classical music, new music and free improvisation. In the field of contemporary music, she has perfor ...

Uxía Martínez Botana Uxía Martínez Botana (born 7 August 1988) is a Spanish double bass player. Early life and education Martínez Botana began learning the double bass and piano at the age of 6 at the elementary music conservatory Cristóbal Halffter in Ponferra ...

Duncan McTier Duncan McTier is an English double bass soloist and professor. He is a member of the Fibonacci Sequence. Biography Born in Worcestershire, England, Duncan McTier studied a degree in mathematics at Bristol University before joining the BBC Symphon ...

Chi-chi Nwanoku Chinyere Adah "Chi-chi" Nwanoku (; born June 1956) is a British double bassist and professor of Historical Double Bass Studies at the Royal Academy of Music. Nwanoku was a founder member and principal bassist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enl ...

* Franco Petracchi *

* Jean-Pierre Robert *

Edicson Ruiz Edicson Ruiz Bioeng (born 11 May 1985 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan double-bass player. At age 17, Ruiz became the youngest member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the second in the Philharmonic history after a harp player in the 1 ...

Rodney Slatford Rodney Slatford OBE (born 18 July 1944) is an English contemporary double bass player and teacher. He was the principal bass player of the Midland Sinfonia, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and English Chamber Orchestra, a founder of the Nas ...

Allan von Schenkel Allan Von Schenkel (born July 31, 1975) is an American double bassist, performance artist, songwriter, guitarist and composer. He has developed connections with many important personalities in music, including Lee Hoiby and Yoko Ono. Schenkel ha ...

Ludwig Streicher Ludwig Streicher (26 June 1920 – 11 March 2003) was a contrabassist from Vienna, Austria. Familiar to many as the former principal bass of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and bass soloist, he is also known as an instructor and as the author ...

Joris Vanvinckenroye Joris Vanvinckenroye (born 1977), also known by his solo moniker BASta!, is a Flemish avant-rock and experimental double bass musician and composer. He is best known for Aranis, a neo-classical chamber rock group he founded and leads, and for h ...

Rainer Zepperitz Rainer Zepperitz (August 25, 1930 - December 23, 2009) was a German double bassist. Background Zepperitz was born in Bandung (Java). In his childhood he first learned the violin before moving to the relocation of his family to Germany at the D� ...

{{div col end

South America

Asia

* Mikyung Sung

Historical

North America

Europe

South America

Asia

See also